21 



would require a high fence to keep them anywhere in 

 bounds. Any kind of fowls are useful in an orange grove 

 and should be employed wherever practicable. 



SOME DRAWBACKS. 



One of the greatest drawbacks to the Northern settler 

 in Florida is the fence laws. These laws seem to have 

 been enacted for the special protection and encouragement 

 of the " cracker " and " squatter," who own or work but 

 little land, own from one to a dozen head of cattle, five to 

 ten hogs, and pay little or no taxes. These animals, 

 according to law, are allowed to run at large and range 

 wherever they list, and the settler who cares to raise any 

 crop or keep his grove free from depredations, must " fence 

 them out." No redress for grievances of any kind, and as 

 fencing material soon rots out in this climate, the expense 

 of keeping fences " hog proof and stallion high" amounts 

 to no inconsiderable sum. We hope and trust when our 

 legislature meets, they will see the wisdom of curtailing 

 this perfect' freedom of range, or the " hoggish" part of it 

 at least. A very good practice prevails in some portions of 

 the State. A neighborhood or community make laws for 

 their own protection in the hog business. They agree 

 among themselves to keep up fences sufficient to turn cat- 

 tle, and the hogs found strolling about are made into pork 

 on sight. Hogs are not prevalent to any great extent in 

 such communities, and we hope to see the same regulations 

 carried into effect in other localities. It has been asserted 

 to us by individuals that the damage done to crops every 

 year, in some portions of Florida, by hogs and cattle being 

 allowed a free range, is more than the actual worth of the 

 animals. To the new settler, it is a sore grievance and one 

 of the greatest set-backs to the settlement of the country. 



